


rusting tides

by ripplingtale



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Ensemble Stars Secret Santa 2018, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Standard Warnings of Lionheart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-26 23:57:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17151434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ripplingtale/pseuds/ripplingtale
Summary: His world tasted like his crown; of decaying dreams and crumbling throne.





	rusting tides

**Author's Note:**

> Third times working on a piece for a Secret Santa, thank you, @EnstSanta2018 at twitter for hosting it! This piece is dedicated to @vicycleta. Ensemble Stars belongs to Happy Element, and I, as a writer, didn't take any material profits from the content here.

The air tasted like a storm.

Izumi tugged at his helmet, blue eyes narrowing at the far east. There was nothing there, of course, for the clock had long ago crawled past afternoon; clouds lazily hung around the south, sun merrily made its way down the west, darkness crept through the north. It was twilight soon, he should make his way home, but here he was, for some reason, somewhere but his home.

He could taste salt beneath his tongue, it was kind of unpleasant. The wind tousled his hair, turning it even more unruly than it was already. Izumi placed his helmet on his motorcycle’s rearview mirror, refusing to bring it along for he didn’t know how much time he would take.

There was nothing in the sky, but the air tasted like hurricane. Izumi concluded it was because he was so close to the sea, so close to the echoes of waves, to the singing horizon. It has been a while since he last came to beaches; he barely remembered the feel of sand pressing upon his soles. Should his brain not fail him, the last time he was in a beach was for a live in the midsummer, Starmine.

It wasn’t like Izumi didn’t like the sea, per se. He just had no business around it. Knights seldom had lives around beaches; always in the middle of the town, always in the middle of the crowds. Perhaps, it was because Knights didn’t fit with shades of blue and the disarray of the tide, they were closer to red, closer to fire. But then again, Izumi simply thought it was because, like Fine and Undead, they were just _bigger_ , and hence it would be easier to have lives in the town.

And besides, Izumi didn’t really like beaches.

Blue eyes shifted to his wrist, noting the time. He still had half an hour before the sun really set, he better started to work on his goal; find Leo, under Anzu’s request. Apparently, the King of Knights accidentally stole Anzu’s notebook, and she really needed whatever was written on it. Izumi thought there was a very useful technology called a phone application, but oh well.

He was just trying his luck in this place, one of the second years said they saw Leo idling around in this beach two days ago—the lead was better than blindly trying to find him. Finding Leo was just like trying to catch a fairy; lest you stumbled into the mushrooms ring, you would find him not. Even if Izumi knew him better than anyone, it didn’t mean it made it easier to find him.

Izumi descended the stairs in one, two, three, six hops. Head turned to everywhere he could see. The beach was deserted for it wasn’t really a popular place, though, he heard, it was quite popular for Yumenosaki’s students. A suspicion creeped upon his mind, about how there was a possibility this beach was actually Yumenosaki’s property, but he shushed it off.

He clicked his tongue, scanning the beach. His sight finally caught a lone figure squatting just beyond the waves’ reach, writing something in the sand with a willowy stick. Even from the place he was standing, Izumi could hear mumbles and tall tales gently lurching down from the frame’s lips as he scribbled his inspiration in the form of scrawled notes.

Got him.

Izumi made sure to stomp his feet, so Leo would hear his steps. However, even if he heard it, the twilight-haired male didn’t make any indication of it, too busy tinkering with his head to turn his sight. Just like always, Izumi thought, just like how Leo was, always so busy with his world.

“ _Ou_ - _sama_!” he called, louder than the waves. The answer he received was the sound of crashing tides; water crawled closer to his soles. Izumi stepped to the side, refusing to have his shoes wet.

Seconds ticked by, water splashing on Izumi’s skin, on his eyelids, on his neck, pressing unto his lips, making him tasted salt, salt, salt, this was why he found beaches unpleasant. This was why he remembered how much resemblance Leo had with the tides. Izumi barely weighed his options; he tapped Leo’s shoulder with a finger, annoyance rusting between his veins.

Leo turned, and his eyes were stars. “Ooh! Sena!” he called, as if it was their glory all over again.

Izumi shook his head, his palm stretched in a gesture of a demand. “Anzu wants her notebook back,” he spoke, over the waves, making sure Leo heard him between the disarray of brine. He watched as Leo tilted his head, blinking in such way Izumi shook him awake from his daydreams.

“What book?” Leo’s smile was merely half-made, with only the left corner of his lips turning upward, showing his tiny fang. Pure confusion swam between his green, green, green eyes.

“The blue one,” Izumi answered without missing a beat, remembering the details Anzu told him in case Leo—and indeed he did. It was nearly impossible if he did not—forgot how her book looked like. However, upon seeing no recollection flashed on Leo’s countenance, Izumi shook his head, pointing at the male’s blazer pocket. “Check your pockets.”

Leo complied, tossing his stick away and started to check his blazer pockets. A recognition flared in his eyes as he pulled out a small, blue notebook from his right pocket. Leo’s mouth fell open and he turned to the standing male so fast until Izumi was so sure his neck would pop. “Whoa! What is this!? How it gets there!? Sena, are you magician!? You should tell me!”

Izumi crossed his arms in front of his chest. A frown made its way to his mien. “You mistook her notebook with yours.” He snatched the book from Leo’s hand, slipping it to his own blazer pocket for safekeeping. A finger then pointed at the sea, where the sun was starting to sway between the raging waves; he could see how his shadow stretched. “Anyway, we should get back, it’s getting dark.”

Upon the words, fire suddenly surged between Leo’s eyes. He grappled his stick again, turning back to his unfinished composition. “Wait, wait! Just a little more—ah! It’s disappearing! My inspirations are vanishing!” The end of the stick moved relentlessly, turning into no more than a scrawl of barely readable notes. “Mozart, don’t leave me hanging!”

Creases formed on Izumi’s forehead. He crossed his arms again, waiting. The tides were getting higher. It started to lick on his shoes, splashing onto his pants. It started to graze Leo’s composition, too, eating the edges every time it pulled back, drowning his song with their dances.

Izumi quietly dug his leg, making a small pit to prevent the waves from erasing Leo’s notes.

Blue eyes, then, shifted to the east, where he could see the first star glimmering between the fading shades of purple. He glanced down to check his shadow, watching it stretching far until it almost jumped through Leo’s hunching frame. “ _Ou_ - _sama,_ ” he warned, alike tick, tock, tick, tock of a clock. It would be dangerous for them to stay, nights around the sea would never be a good thing.

Leo waved his other hand. “Wait, waaaiiit!”

Izumi huffed. This was exactly why he thought Leo resembled the tides.

Wild, chaotic, turbulent. Leo was an assembly of waves. He crashed against everything and anything, face first, blade second. He was a power to be reckoned with; unreadable, unrestrained. Even back then before the Emperor rumpled him like he was a mere drizzle, Izumi had always thought about how powerful Leo was; how easy it was for him to herald daydreams and turn it into notes.

Izumi thought Leo resembled the tides. He crashed and crashed and crashed against everything and anything, until he ran himself dry, until he barely could breathe and ended up drowning between the ruins he managed to overturn. It made Izumi remembered how weak he was, how utterly and absolutely weak he was to have let Leo drown in front of his eyes. It made his chest ached and his mind churned, it made him remembered how broken their world was.

“Oh, Sena, Sena! Sing this part! Quick!”

The force of Leo’s tugs almost made him fall head first into the sand. A displeased pout crawled back to Izumi’s face as he ended up squatting down just beside Leo, observing the notes written on the sand. There was some unreadable parts around the end, Izumi had to squint and trace the lines to pinpoint what shape it was supposed to be.

“Why should I?” Words twisted a bit too sharp.

Leo none so gently patted his back. “Just do it!”

The sound of the waves were far too loud, so Izumi scooted closer. The lamps that lined the street just a distance away from the two of them flickered to life, allowing Izumi to see better. He tapped a finger on his knees, reining the hum that tumbled down his throat. The notes started to get higher, and thus, he hummed louder. And louder, and louder, and louder, until his voice sunk the tides.

Leo was humming along with him as he kept scribbling the continuation. It turned into a chase; Izumi’s voice and his handwriting, just like their shadows and the waves. He wrote and wrote and wrote until finally, he let himself fell to the sand, deeming the ending was good enough.

“Done!” Leo cheered just as Izumi finished his song. He threw his hands to the air, laughing.

It was good. But then again, all of Leo’s compositions were. Izumi shook his head while he stood, dusting the sand from his knees and pants. The sun was halfway down, its light dancing across the horizon, alike to fire that refused bow down. “Let’s go back,” Izumi breathed, hands on his hips.

Leo hopped to crouch, waving an arm. “No, wait! Let me think the title for this.”

Izumi gazed at the beginning of the song again, watching the waves licking at the edges, trying to commit it to his memory. It was obvious Leo didn’t have any thought to copy the song down the papers nor to remember it, and thus, the song would be forgotten, just like all of his nameless notes that were written by a sharpie on the floor of the hall before Keito dragged him out, just like all of his half-finished notes that were written by a pen across someone else’s papers.

Should he take a photo?

Izumi weighed his options. Leo composed songs in such way he breathed. Not all of his works would end up tumbling down from the Knights’ lips, even if this one caressed Izumi’s tongue like a pleasant delight. If Leo deemed the song was important enough, he would tell before he forgot. He would tell before delusions kidnapped him again and sunk him down reveries.

Because that was what he did back then. He would shove the papers to Izumi’s arms and tell him to read it, to sing it, to dance upon it. He would give it a name, a title. Sometimes, the title was merely a rip-off of another song, in which even Leo himself laughed upon his tomfoolery. But other times, Izumi would read Leo’s handwriting, and all the breath would be grasped out from his lungs, filling his veins with impatience to let the notes fell alike drizzle from his mouth, from his tongue.

“So?” Izumi called after a while. The sun peered from the edge of the sky only with its crown, casting golden light across Leo’s hair, casting silver light across Izumi’s eyes, casting the last of its life across the notes with fraying edges. He watched the King of Knights struggled with his mind, thinking deeply, before finally, finally, a grin took over his mien again.

“I’ll call it Sunset-colored Izumi!”

Izumi faked his smile with a vexed huff.

The song was important enough, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy holiday, everyone!
> 
> Thank you for reading through the end, it's been a while since I tinkered with Izumi (and Leo), and it's been a while since I wrote a proper piece. As always, Lionheart keep my Izumi going, I'm sorry if he seems so out of character. Is he? Honestly, I can't tell, I'd appreciate critics and advice!
> 
> Big thanks and love for Frey, my beta-reader, who is going through each and every crap I threw at them. I'm hoping to be more active this holiday, so perhaps you will see me around with more Leo and angst, for he is all I can write.
> 
> Again, thank you for reading, I wish you all a good day!  
> \- Az.


End file.
